Turkey-Broccoli Meatballs and Pasta

I wanted to do some meatballs tonight for pasta instead of my plain ole pan cooked ground turkey. And, of course, I hid veggies in that meaty deliciousness. ;) Birdie even saw me putting the broccoli in but promptly forgot when it came to eating them. WIN! Please note: she also stole about 6 slices of orange bell pepper off my cutting board before dinner; DOUBLE WIN!

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Turkey-Broccoli Meatballs and Pasta

1 lb. Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 c. Broccoli
1/4 red onion - diced fine
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. basil
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
Black Pepper

1 c. Whole grain rotini
1/2 c. Tri-peppers - diced
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 c. Spaghetti sauce

Put the broccoli in the food processor and get it down into little pieces. I like to cut mine down, freeze them, then process so they don't juice themselves to death when processing. Add all the meatball ingredients (Turkey through black pepper) in a bowl and work the mixture like you would prep for meatloaf (really well so it compacts well).

Roll out 1" meatballs. Place directly in a big frying pan - not heated. When they are all placed, turn the heat on medium, cover and let cook about 10 minutes (no oil needed if it's a non-stick pan). You can start turning them after they've been cooking for 5 minutes. There should be lots of liquid built up in the pan from cooking them covered.

Throw in the peppers, rotini and garlic. Add about 1 cup of hot water and cover. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is cooked through. Add the spaghetti sauce (and I sliced the meatballs in half to make sure they were cooked through at this time) and cook another few minutes while everything combines with the sauce. Dish and serve!

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You can also do carrots, cauliflower, whatever veggies you want to add to the meatballs. In the future, I also would add spinach leaves to the whole thing when I throw the sauce in to warm and cook just for extra greens. Goooooood stuff!!


Challenge friendly: YES. Max Phase only due to pasta content. Try meatballs over spaghetti squash for Cleanse Phase.

Chicken and Veggie Pasta with Ghetto Pesto

So I needed to prolong the life of the meat I have in my house. I made up three chicken breasts via my Blanched Lime Garlic Chicken recipe, shredded all the chicken and portioned it out into 4 "meals."

Meal #1: chicken with pan roasted zucchini, summer squash and onions with whole grain rotini and ghetto version of pesto (you'll see why when you see the recipe LOL).

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Chicken and Veggie Pasta

1 zucchini - sliced
1 yellow summer squash - sliced
2 cloves of garlic - minced
2 slices of white onion - diced or halved
2 tbsp. EVOO for the pan

(optional: I add cajun seasoning for a touch of heat)

Heat the pan with the EVOO. Turn down to med-high heat. Add garlic and onions and let them warm up for a minute. Add zucchini and squash and toss around until they are cooked most of the way through. Throw in previously made chicken so it warms up. Finish and set aside.

1 cup of dry whole grain rotini

Make this up while you are roasting the veggies so you can toss in when the veggies and chicken are done.

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Ghetto Pesto Sauce

1/4 cup EVOO
2 cloves garlic - minced
2-3 tbsp. Basil (I use regular ole dried variety)
1/4 cup Parmesan (plain ole Kraft variety)
Few turns of cracked black pepper (or regular pepper to taste)

(See why I call it "ghetto?" Yeah, I don't have the fresh ingredients on hand and no pine nuts so this is what I have to offer! LOL)

Put it all in the processor. Blend it up. Pour over your awesome veggies, chicken and pasta!

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This whole dinner fed me, Dave, Birdie AND Buddy (Who ate the crap out of it! Impressive for a 1-year old!) AND I have enough leftover for a dinner for the kids and I when we need it. Now that's extending my food supply!


Challenge Friendly: NO - cut the parm from the sauce.